Shopify said in its changelog on October 24 that Managed Markets can now handle international shipping rates alongside duty-inclusive pricing. For stores already selling cross-border through Managed Markets, this takes over one of the fiddliest parts of the setup: deciding what to charge buyers in each country for Standard and Express delivery.

What’s new

  • Managed shipping rates. Managed Markets sets Standard and Express rates for each destination. Part of the shipping cost is built into product prices and the rest is charged at checkout. You can choose to absorb part of the cost to lower what buyers pay.
  • Label cost protection. Qualifying prepaid FedEx or DHL Express labels bought through Managed Markets are protected from later carrier cost adjustments, so a surprise bill doesn’t land weeks after the parcel ships.
  • Previews. Before you switch it on, you can see international product prices, checkout totals and expected payouts for each market.

You can’t edit the managed rates yourself. Shopify says you can turn the feature off for any market and go back to your own rates, but the label cost guarantee no longer applies when you do.

Who it affects

Shopify merchants who use Managed Markets with duty-inclusive pricing turned on. Shopify’s post doesn’t list eligible plans or countries, so open Markets in your admin, pick a market and look for the Managed Markets section to see whether the option is there.

Stores that run international rates through their own carrier accounts or shipping apps aren’t affected unless they choose to switch. If you sell to the UK, read our note on Shopify’s UK VAT change from the same week, since both touch what UK buyers see at checkout.

Our take

The previews are the most useful part of this release. Before you turn anything on, pull the preview for your top three export markets and compare the landed price and expected payout with what you charge today. If the margins hold, switch on one market first and watch conversion for a few weeks before rolling it out wider. If you ship heavy or bulky items, compare the managed Express rate against your own carrier contract before you hand over control of pricing.

Setting up cross-border selling on Shopify? Our Shopify development team can configure Markets, duties and shipping, and our Shopify store setup checklist covers the rest of the launch list.